Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang never was enough

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was yet again anonymous against Everton, and it’s proving to be the latest in a surprisingly disappointing tenure at Arsenal.

When we first signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, he was Arsene Wenger’s last gasp to push Arsenal back into contender status. It didn’t work and maybe it should have been a sign at the time that Aubameyang was, and still isn’t, enough. Nor would he ever be.

The guy won a Golden Boot last year, which you can’t take away from him. He was an inspiring piece of a hit-and-miss season. Something to actually look forward to and enjoy. But even then, there were hints of trouble brewing. Hints of, as mentioned before, him not being enough.

Aubameyang’s work ethic and performance outside of scoring was always suspect, though it was only natural that not many spoke out about it at the time. He was winning a Golden Boot after all. Even the most sensible of fans isn’t going to do that. Hell, not even I was complaining. (That much.)

But this year, we’re seeing more of the issue. And while it is kind of surprising. It really shouldn’t be. All this time, Aubameyang was never enough. So why would this season be any different?

The short answer is that it wouldn’t.

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Aubameyang touched the ball just 22 times against Everton. His 9 touches in the first half one-upped (literally) his 8 touches in the first half against Manchester City. Not exactly something to be proud of.

You could make the argument that he hasn’t had enough service, but as an elite player, it’s not unreasonable to think that he should be doing more, that he should be a bigger lift to the overall state of the team than he currently is.

Then again, we fall back to that original argument. He never has been enough, so why would be be now? It was foreordained. He wasn’t enough for Wenger to fix things. He wasn’t enough for Emery to fix things, nor Freddie Ljungberg. Now, with Mikel Arteta coming in demanding 120% from his players, Aubameyang still won’t be enough.

He, like Ozil, is a luxury player. If you can’t build enough of a force around him, he’s going to be a flimsy tool that only works well every so often. And it’s been clear all along, Golden Boot and all.

Arsenal need to move on from Aubameyang, and you could argue that it’s overdue. He needs to be sold while he still has value. I just hope that Arteta sees that as clearly as we all do.